Article Tools

A recent environmental study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University concluded that in Bradford and Susquehanna counties, hydraulic fracturing for natural gas has resulted in increased hospitalizations.

Brown University and the Colorado School of Public Health’s study of fracking found that many of the chemicals used in underground natural gas drilling are toxic. The environmental organization Food and Water Watch recently discovered there are “thousands of cases of contamination near natural gas fracking sites.” Food and Water Watch found that methane leaks at fracking sites related to deep-earth drilling have caused water wells and even homes to explode, causing death, injuries and loss of property. Residents of Dish, Texas, have complained about “unexplained sicknesses” in humans and animals since natural gas companies came to town.

Citizens in Susquehanna County report that their roadways are marked by loud truck traffic day and night. Rural roads have become worn and dangerous. Many residents — just to survive — are powerless and are compelled to accept what amounts to a gradual, inevitable “takeover” of their lives and communities.

At the same time, huge, multimillion-dollar drilling corporations approach a growing number of property owners in an effort to contract with vulnerable landowners in order to allow natural gas drilling on their property. Natural gas drilling exploiters in Northeast Pennsylvania pay $10,000 or more per month for the use and exploitation of their land. Once-beautiful rolling terrain and farmlands are left to bear the scars of natural gas companies’ greed for deep-earth drilling. A simple well site uses 1 million gallons of irreplaceable water.

Natural gas well drills can reach more than 8,000 feet beneath the surface of the earth. Deep-earth drilling has been linked to a wave of earthquake activity never before experienced in regions victimized by natural gas companies’ unregulated drilling.

Last summer, Germany generated three-quarters of its energy from safe and renewable power.

Fifteen million people in Bangladesh today live in solar powered homes.

Pope Francis speaks of a “crime of unlimited proportions” affecting humanity, air, water and earth. “Thou shall not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life. His 2013 pastoral letter says, “Today we also have to say ‘thou shall not kill’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills… The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.”

Where is the outrage and the sense of community, solidarity and human compassion?

Dioceses, pastors and Catholic universities fear the loss of political power and community standing. Their silence, according to the pope, turns the world “into an object simply to be used and controlled.”

The pope’s encyclical states: “If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs . . . It is not lawful much less human to enter into a culture of waste.”

We become like Cain who when asked by God: “Where is your brother Abel?” answered “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.